31 Mar Bullying problem at your school? How can you tell?

The most effective way to combat bullying is to prevent it in the first place. But what if the problem has already infected a school or youth center? Have the adults at your organization ever made a concerted effort to determine how much bullying goes on?

Look for the signs

Without ever witnessing an incident, you can glean a lot from students’ behavior. For instance, if a boy has few friends and often asks to stay in during recess, he may be seeking refuge from a playground bully. Is there a shy student who complains of frequent headaches, stomach aches, insomnia, or other ailments? He may be a bullying victim.

Of course, these signs may be subtle, and teachers might not detect bullying before it escalates. But parents are on the front line. Communicate with them to find out if their child is often sad and dreads going to school. Has she experienced a loss of appetite or difficulty sleeping? Does she seem unusually anxious? These might be signs of bullying. In the extreme case, a student will come home with bruises and torn clothes. If that happens, parents must notify the school immediately.

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Anthony Baer

1Comment

Jimmy Trent

In my experience it is the kids that seem very distracted who are usually least happy, and often as result of bullying. I think your categorisations of people who might be at risk are spot on, often these signals are hard to interpret and can be taken the wrong by parents & teachers.